One of London's leading Off West End theatres

26 February–2 March 2018

Arcola Queer Collective

Fine and Dandy

by Sue Frumin

Directed by Jonathan Richardson

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“Meet Ernest/Ernestine Faigele Fine, a singer of cheap ballads and weary tunes, inventor of the worst magic acts in history, a clog dancer of no particular skill and a wandering Jew at the turn of the 20th Century…”

Jewish refugee Ernest Faigele Fine has many a trick up their sleeve – if only they could manage to master them.

On an epic queer journey from the Pale of Settlement, through the seaside boulevards of northern England and the fields of northern France, will Ernest and Dandy the aspiring male impersonator find fame and fortune in the New World?

Encounter sailors, clairvoyants, impresarios, soldiers, sweatshop workers and Ethel the snake in this dazzling story about finding home, by writer and queer theatre legend Sue Frumin.

Jonathan Richardson (The Fems, Camden People’s Theatre/The Glory, and House of Idiot) directs the Arcola Queer Collective in a show which blends music, drama, circus and music hall.

“★★★★ Part burlesque, part Brecht, this is a stylised piece that often leans towards performance art and explores a complex and intimate web of friends and lovers grappling with desire, submission and unrequited love.”

—LGBTQ+ Arts Review on The X

“Ultimately, this is a play that delights, beguiles and reminds one of the hard-won happiness we are blissfully free to pursue in 2017.”

—Attitude Magazine on The Drag

“The Drag feels utterly celebratory...A succès de scandale! ”

—Times Literary Supplement on The Drag

“★★★★ Tender, funny and utterly brilliant… I urge you to beg, borrow or steal a ticket, if you have to!”

—DIVA Magazine on The Little Prince

“★★★★★ Surely the most inventive, outrageous, and thoroughly enjoyable bending of the Bard that we’ve witnessed … An ingenious blending of classical theatre with burlesque, cabaret and queer politics … Do yourself a favour and run away with the fairies.”